U.A.E. Attracts Frustrated European Job Seekers

DUBAI — When Hrach Kalsahakian started a Web site for Greeks in the United Arab Emirates in 2006, most of the posts were about networking, job hunting and socializing. But as economic troubles have deepened in Greece, messages have taken on a sense of urgency.

A post in September on Emirates Greeks’
Facebook page by Lazarus Pechynakis, a hotel front office manager in Crete, read: “Every single day is like living in a constant economical war with the victims being people like us. Leaving our country is not a choice, but a matter of survival now; the only request that me, my wife, and newborn baby have is to find a job in the U.A.E.”

The Greek government pushed a budget of spending cuts and tax increases for 2013 through Parliament early Monday, as about 20,000 demonstrators gathered outside Parliament, Niki Kitsantonis reported from Athens. The budget calls for €9.4 billion, or $12 billion, in cuts to salaries, pensions and social benefits.

The economies of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland are also suffering.

More than half of the population in Spain and Greece under the age of 35 is unemployed, according to an Oct. 31 report by Eurostat, which provides statistical information to E.U. institutions. The report also said that 25 percent of Spanish and Greek citizens were out of a job.

Job creation has come to a standstill in these countries, making it difficult for both fresh graduates and those at senior levels to find work. Increasingly, Europeans are looking for better opportunities abroad, with the U.A.E. high on the wish list.

The country has long played a unique role in global recruitment because of its unusually high proportion of foreign workers. Expatriates make up 88.5 percent of the U.A.E. population, one of the highest percentages in the world. Of its population of 8.2 million, 7.3 million come from overseas.

“In Spain last year, everybody acted like it’s Hollywood, spending more money than they had to buy second cars or summer homes and going into debt,” said Manuel Ayas, 33, the managing director of Ayas Nightlife Consultants in Dubai. “When I got the opportunity to come to Dubai years ago, precrisis, I thought it’s best to stay here because even though I miss my hometown in Spain, the situation feels hopeless, futureless, for so many people there right now.”

Mr. Ayas, who came to Dubai in 2005 to manage the Trilogy nightclub, now runs a consulting firm that manages nightclubs for high-profile clients like the Atlantis Hotel on The Palm and the iconic Burj Khalifa.

He now gets about a dozen e-mails a day from acquaintances in Spain inquiring about work in Dubai.

“I got one today from a 27-year-old with two master’s degrees and five years of work experience asking for any job, just anything, even as a waiter, to start with,” he said. “I also had family and friends come visit last month, an architect and an economist, looking for a way out of Spain.”

Photo

Young protesters, including art and music students, demonstrated outside the Greek Parliament against government cutbacks. Youth from struggling European nations are increasingly seeking job opportunities overseas, particularly in the Middle East and Asia.Credit
Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Dimitris Zographos, a 35-year-old banker who had spent much of his career in Britain, had once considered returning to his native Greece. “My entire reason for being away from family and friends and the amazing Greek beaches and frappé coffee was to build a solid career,” he said.

But the economic crisis prevented a return. “The situation just seemed to get worse and worse — people either didn’t have jobs, or they had jobs that wouldn’t pay,” he said. “It became obvious that Greece was not going to be an option for me.”

Then in February, Mr. Zographos woke up to a message on LinkedIn from Bank Muscat, which is based in Oman, a state that borders the U.A.E. “Things happened quickly — one conference call, one in-person interview, and the decision was done,” he said.

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He is now based in Dubai as the head of institutional sales for Bank Muscat. He had had his eye on the city for several years, particularly after several business trips there. He saw opportunity in the tax-free environment and the city’s efforts to act as a financial link between Asia and Europe.

While Dubai had its own hiring freeze during the 2008 global financial crisis, it bounced back quickly.

Today, the unemployment rate in the U.A.E. is 4.6 percent, and it is only 3.2 percent among the expatriate population, according to a report in June from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Mr. Kalsahakian of the Emirates Greeks Web site estimates that there are about 4,000 Greeks in the U.A.E. today.

“I’ve seen the Greek community here grow from a few newcomers every month to today’s situation, where there are a few people every day,” he said. “The economic situation in Greece is the main reason for this, and almost all the newcomers are holders of university degrees who don’t find it rewarding to stay in Greece.”

Gabriel Matar, head of hotels for the Middle East and Africa for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, feels that Europe’s problems would be long-lasting.

“In places like Spain and Greece now, economies are not growing fast enough to create jobs,” he said. “The people that will suffer most from unemployment are young graduates and those in senior levels.”

“This is not just a trend for 2012, but one that will probably last for years,” he added.